1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to task ordering in computer applications. More particularly, it relates to run-time ordering of open application tasks.
2. Background Art
In Lotus Notes, a plurality of tasks (document, database, web page, or the like) may be opened within an open application. As each task or window is opened, a tab is added to a status line with each tab attached to an open task. These window tabs show a list of all the currently open windows and prove a way for a user to switch to any of the open application tasks with a single click. The order in which these window tabs are displayed is the order in which each application is opened. However, some users would prefer to have these tabs appear in a different order, an order which makes more sense to the user in the context of the overall application. There is a need in the art to provide users with the capability to customize tab order in a status line.
Similarly, in Microsoft Windows, inside an application, as a task is opened a tab is added to a status line that shows open tasks. Each open task is attached to or associated with an open document or the like.
In an application where tasks are associated with documents, for example, as each document is opened the associated document tab is created and added at the end of the list of document tabs in the status line. As a document is closed, its associated tab is removed from the list. Similar operations occur for data base and spreadsheet tasks within open data base and spreadsheet applications, respectively.
The tab list is in sequential ordering. Thus, a user may by selecting a particular keyboard key or key combination, or mouse key, open tasks within the application in the sequential order in which they were originally opened. The user may also, by selecting some other keyboard key, key combination, or mouse key, open tasks with the application in the reverse order to that in which they were originally opened. In Lotus Notes, for example, a user selects the control-tab key combination to move from task to task in sequential order and the control-shift-tab key combination to move from task to task in reverse sequential order.
A user may select any open task irrespective of its sequential ordering by clicking on the task tab with the mouse.
Heretofore, because the sequential ordering of tasks was set in the order in which the tasks were opened, in order to move sequentially through the tasks in a different order, it has been necessary either to click on the task tab or else close and reopen tasks in the order now desired. This is a tedious, slow and sometimes annoying operations.
Consequently, there is a need in the art to provide to a user a capability for reordering the sequential order of open tasks within an application such that with relative ease a user may use keys or key combinations to quickly and sequentially or reverse sequentially bring to the active window tasks in any desired order.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved system and method for ordering tasks for sequential execution.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved system and method for keyboard activation of open tasks in sequential or reverse sequential order.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for reordering tabs associated in a status line with a plurality of open tasks.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system and method for user customization of open task tab order in a status line.